(August 30, 2012)

Matt Murphy joins Centenary's Political Science Department

SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary Political Science Department has welcomed Matt Murphy as Assistant Professor of Political Science. Murphy claims he chose Centenary for purely selfish reasons—to do what he loves.

Matt Murphy

" This is the work I love: teaching, mentoring, collaborating with students, pushing them to discover their own capabilities," said Murphy. "So Centenary lets me do what I love, surrounded by faculty and students who are smart and interesting people—what could be better than that kind of community?"

For over six years, Murphy served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science for Swarthmore College. Prior to his time at Swarthmore, he was a faculty member at Reed College. Murphy graduated cum laude from Princeton University and received his master of arts from Georgetown University.

Murphy will receive his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, this fall. His dissertation focuses on transitional justice and democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe. He is offering Introduction to Comparative Politics and Comparative Political Institutions to Centenary students this semester.

"My teaching duties will primarily focus on the international side of political science," said Murphy. "I am intensely interested in three areas: democratization, ethnic conflict, and capitalism. I think these represent some of the biggest political challenges we face today, and I am looking forward to learning how my students and colleagues feel about these issues."

He joins Dr. Christopher Parker who Centenary welcomed in fall 2011 as an Assistant Professor of Political Science.